A need for better connectivity in Scotland to increase access to education has been revealed in new research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than eight in 10 (85%) Scottish citizens believe the Internet of things (IoT) and digital technologies will enhance education in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research, commissioned by Capita\u2019s Technology Solutions division on behalf of the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN), explores the attitudes of Scottish people towards increasing the use of digital technologies and IoT in education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, the research shows the majority see benefits to\nintroducing new technologies in education \u2013 particularly in enhancing learning\nfor students with disabilities and additional support needs (91%), and\nconnecting and improving attainment for students living in remote and rural\nareas (92%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack Anderson, Head of Digital and Innovation for SWAN at\nCapita, said: \u201cWe\u2019re seeing new technologies developing all the time which can\nhelp build smart classrooms and campuses across Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUltimately, these technologies can be an advantage to every\nstudent in Scotland. This is particularly true when it comes to ensuring equal\naccess to education \u2013 especially for those in remote and rural areas \u2013 and\nhelping them prepare for a tech-driven future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of government investment into high-speed\nInternet across Scotland \u2013 especially for the one in five of households that\nremain unconnected. We now need to make sure citizens across these remote and\nrural regions are aware of the possibilities that come with the right\ninfrastructure and reliable connectivity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Digital channels have the potential to bridge gaps between\neducation providers and students. The research shows 84% of Scottish citizens\nthink schools and universities should provide more remote and distance learning\nservices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students can be dispersed across large geographical areas\nincluding islands, and with the shortage of teachers in rural areas, distance\nand remote learning services are particularly important for Scotland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The use of digital channels can help ensure attainment in\nrural areas matches that in cities, where access to education services is more\nstraightforward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about the potential of digital technologies in\neducation, citizens were positive about a number of benefits, including\ninteractive learning (60%), and distance and remote learning (56%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Residents in areas like the Highlands, however, had slightly\nlower expectations \u2013 for instance, a fifth (20%) of those in the Highlands said\nthey don\u2019t see any benefits of digitalisation in education, compared to 10%\noverall. This is because, historically, connectivity in this region has been\nharder to come by so expectations are more tempered; as connectivity improves,\nthis response is likely to change accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the technology to provide more connected education and\nmore digital public services is continuing to evolve, Scotland needs the\ninfrastructure to support it, particularly in some harder-to-reach areas. The\nIoT and digital technologies that have the potential to transform Scottish\neducation require secure, fast and reliable connectivity to operate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UK Government and Scottish policy makers are working to\naddress this issue and build the necessary infrastructure, with SWAN supporting\nthese efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A need for better connectivity in Scotland to increase access to education has been revealed in new research. More than eight in 10 (85%) Scottish citizens believe the Internet of things (IoT) and digital technologies will enhance education in the country. The research, commissioned by Capita\u2019s Technology Solutions division on behalf of the Scottish Wide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":37802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,62,24],"tags":[14501,139,13323],"class_list":["post-37801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more-news","category-regional-news-newsletter","category-used","tag-capitas-technology-solutions","tag-internet-of-things","tag-scottish-wide-area-network"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37801"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37965,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37801\/revisions\/37965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}